FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE??????? ??????????????????????? ??????????? Office of Justice Programs

APRIL 11, 2003??????????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????? ??????????? www.ojp.usdoj.gov

Contact: Mary Louise Embrey

202-307-0703

 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PARTICIPATES IN

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department?s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) joined District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams and representatives of private sector organizations to launch the observance of National Youth Service Day at an event held today at Benjamin Orr Elementary School in Southeast Washington.? National and Global Service Day, which will be observed from April 11 - 13, is a public awareness and education campaign of Youth Service America, highlighting the contributions young people make to their communities throughout the year. OJP worked with Youth Service America and the District of Columbia?s Commission on National and Community Service to plan the event.

 

?This event focuses on the positive power and potential that young people bring to their communities across the country and around the world,? said OJP?s Assistant Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels. ?The Orr School is representative of how volunteerism at every age level can work well in achieving school and community improvements .?? Today?s Orr School event also highlighted the Department of Justice?s (DOJ) long relationship with the school, which began in 1991 when DOJ adopted the school as its partner in community service activities, with OJP designated as the lead agency.

 

J. Robert Flores, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a component of OJP, participated in the opening ceremonies, along with Mayor Williams.? They were joined by former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, who founded DOJ?s Partners in Education Program, Steven Culbertson, President and CEO of Youth Service America, and Matthew Greer of State Farm Insurance.?

 

Flores and Robbie Calloway, Senior Vice President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, jointly announced the initiation of a Boys and Girls Club Program at Orr School, funded through an OJP grant program, Establishing, Enhancing and Expanding Boys and Girls

Clubs of America.? ?Orr School students will now have a safe neighborhood club where they and their families can come after school and on weekends,? said Flores.? ?The club will provide the students with a caring, local presence, and an opportunity to participate in educational and recreational activities aimed at the development of resilient and well-rounded young people.?

 

More information on National and Global Youth Service Day, which engages millions of young people in what is considered the world?s largest service event, is available at www.YSA.org/NYSD. Information about OJP programs, publications and conferences is available at the OJP web site www.ojp.usdoj.gov.

 

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